Screaming "Save the Planet" but you won't even save your neighbor, dammit!

I try not to argue politics with people - I'm not against explaining my political opinions to people but I think that the act of trying to drag someone toward your views is just as offensive as going to their house and knocking and their door to tell them they should have your religion - but despite that I am a sucker for poking at it from time to time.

I try to resist, I really do. I think the thing that keeps getting me is just how baffling I find the Libertarian or far-right mentality. In a certain way it's fascinating, the same kind of fascinating as people that believe that an alien overlord murdered a bunch of other aliens with hydrogen bombs and somehow got tax exempt status for their obvious sham of a self-help group. Anyway.

The baffling and fascinating example comes courtesy of the Libertarians I communicate with, who stick pretty consistently to two themes - boiled down into some version of these very simple statements:

"I wish everyone could be more free" AND "I wish everyone would get on board and see things the way I do"

For one to come true, the answer to the other must be "Tough shit" - which seems to be the key to the fact that I find talking to Libertarians to be exactly the same as talking to a spoiled 5 year old. Both of those things are fine things to want, if that's your deal, but are in pretty much in opposition to one another. This model for "the way things ought to be" does not exist in reality but in the same theoretical world where Communism works.

That doesn't matter - they want them both and it's somebody's fault that they can't get what they want. It always reminds me of the awkward, befuddled moment when the people that had been demanding Democracy in the Middle East had to accept the fact that democratic elections resulted in the election of Hamas. There was that quick re-framing of the issue that reeked of "when we said we wanted you to be free to choose, we meant we wanted you to be free to choose the outcome we wanted.." that always happens when reality intrudes on this Land of Pretend. It often has all the logic and consistency of a tantrum.

I also find the same to be true of the more aggressive breed of atheist that seems to be popping up more and more - it hardly matters that I would happily label myself as atheist, I just can't take the constant "I want to be able to think and believe what I want to believe and be left alone/treated fairly/not have to put up with Christians constantly trying to change my beliefs for it" coupled with the loud and constant "let me tell you why you should not believe what you believe, Christians" - that is the trademark of the current crop of outspoken atheists that you will invariable encounter if you watch enough TV or listen to enough podcasts/radio/atheists.

It sucks but the "freedom" you're screaming for probably doesn't look the way you want it to, at the very least it doesn't look the same for everybody - and that's just tough shit.